Surgical dressing



March 24, 1953 E. P. LESHER SURGICAL DRESSING Filed April 18, 1949Fig.2.

Inventor a h s e L R. W a e I E (wig away 8M5 Patented Mar. 24, 1953UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SURGICAL DRESSING Eleanor P. Lesher,Wareham, Mass.

Application April 18, 1949, Serial No. 88,127

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to surgical dressings, and the primary object ofthe invention is to provide such a dressing including a fiat innerabsorbent pad having a large central aperture of such shape and sizethat its wall will surround the wound to be dressed, and a conventionalimperforate fiat outer absorbent pad superimposed on the apertured padso as to close the aperture of the latter and define a closed reservoirfor receiving drainage directly from the wound and retaining suchdrainage until it is completely absorbed by the pads. In this way, thedrainage is confined to and prevented from seeping out be yond thedressing area, as often occurs when an ordinary imperforate pad isplaced directly over and upon the wound. Also, the dressing can beeasily removed without discomfort to the patient because the pads do nottouch or adhere to the wound.

One embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings,in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a dressing constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the inner pad, the outer pad and the padretaining means being removed;

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates a fiat inner absorbentpad having a large central aperture or opening 6 of such a size andshape that its wall surrounds the wound I to be dressed. This padconsists of a relatively thick layer 8 of absorbent cotton covered atthe side edges and on its inner and outer surfaces by gauze as at 9 andI0, and also preferably having the wall of aperture 6 covered by thegauze as at H so that layer 8 is properly confined and held in shape.

An ordinary flat imperforate outer absorbent pad I2 is superimposed onthe inner pad 5 so as to close the opening and define a closed reservoirfor receiving drainage directly from the wound 1 and retaining suchdrainage until it is absorbed by the pads near the region of the 5wound. The pad I! also consists of a relatively thick layer of absorbentcotton l3 having its side edges and its surfaces covered with gauze Hi.The pads are preferably of substantially the same area.

The pads may be secured in place by any well known or preferred means,such as a wrapping of gauze l5, adhesive tapes or straps, etc.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the nature andadvantages of the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A surgical dressing for a flesh wound comprising a fiat absorbent padhaving a central opening for surrounding the wound, a gauze covering thesaid pad enclosing all surfaces of the pad around said opening to holdsaid pad in shape and providing a gauze bottom on said pad for engagingthe flesh around the wound, and a second fiat imperforate pad ofabsorbent material imposed on said first pad to close the opening andhaving a gauze covering completely enclosing the same to maintain saidsecond pad in shape and provide a gauze bottom on said second padcontacting the gauze covering on the first pad to reduce adhesionbetween said pads resulting from absorption of moisture from the wound.

ELEANOR P. LESHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,920,808 Sander Aug. 1, 19332,089,990 Young Aug. 17, 1937 2,148,882 Scholl Feb. 28, 1939 2,268,746Froyd Jan. 6, 1942 2,344,021 Bouziane Mar. 14, 1944 2,448,366 GledhillAug. 31, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 468,552 Great BritainJuly 7. 1937

